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50 Cent -

Curtis James Jackson III, who more commonly goes by his stage name 50 Cent, sadly lost his mother in a fire when he was just eight years old.

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50 Cent -

Following this tragic accident, his father left and the young 50 cent was raised by his grandmother. Apparently the rapper was open with her about the fact that he sold drugs.

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Oprah Winfrey -

Talk-show host and beloved TV personality Oprah Winfrey was born to an unmarried teenage mother in 1954. Her father was not around and her mother left shortly after she was born.

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Oprah Winfrey -

For the first six years of her life, Oprah was brought up by her maternal grandmother. There are reports that she taught young Oprah to read very early on, but also that she was abusive.

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Jamie Foxx -

Shortly after he was born, actor Jamie Foxx was adopted by the same couple who adopted his mother, Louise Annette Talley Dixon. His birth parents did not play a part in his upbringing.

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Jamie Foxx -

In interviews Foxx has often acknowledged the positive influence that his grandmother had on his life and he has credited her with his successes.

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Al Pacino -

Prolific actor Alfredo James Pacino was born in 1940 to Italian-American parents Rose Gerardi and Salvatore Pacinio, who divorced when he was just two years old.

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Al Pacino -

Following his parents' divorce the young Al Pacino and his mother moved in with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who helped raise him.

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Jack Nicholson -

Actor Jack Nicholson's mother June was just 17 years old when she gave birth to him. As a result, her parents agreed to raise Jack as their own and tell him June was his sister.

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Jack Nicholson - Nicholson did not find out who his mother really was until both his mother and his grandmother were already dead. He has described the event as "dramatic" but not "traumatizing."

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Barack Obama -

Between the ages of six and ten, the former President of the United States lived in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather. He returned to his native Honolulu when he was 10 to live with his grandparents.

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Barack Obama -

When he returned to Honolulu he started at a prep school where he would stay until he graduated at age 18. However, there was an intermittent period during which he lived with his mother.

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Bill Clinton -

Bill Clinton joins Barack Obama in the ranks of US politicians whose grandparents were heavily involved in their upbringing. In fact, Clinton lived with them for the first four years of his life.

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Bill Clinton -

His mother traveled from Arkansas to New Orleans to study nursing soon after Bill was born in 1946. When she returned in 1950 he moved with her to Hot Springs.

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Pierce Brosnan -

Actor Pierce Brosnan's father left when he was an infant, and his mother moved to London to be a nurse when he was four. She left him in the hands of her parents, Philip and Kathleen Smith.

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Pierce Brosnan -

After his grandparents passed away Brosnan lived for a time with an aunt and uncle, before moving into a boarding house. He apparently saw his mother once or twice a year.

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Carol Burnett -

Actress Carol Burnett was raised by her grandmother from a young age, since both her parents were alcoholics.

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Carol Burnett -

When her mother moved to Hollywood at the end of the 1930s, Burnett and her grandmother moved into a one-bedroom apartment near her mother's place in a poor area of Hollywood.

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Dylan McDermott -

Actor Dylan McDermott lost his mother at the tender age of five. She was shot and killed in an incident that was originally ruled an accident but may have been murder.

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Dylan McDermott -

After his mother was killed, Dylan and his sister were brought up by their maternal grandmother, Avis. As a teenager he did have contact with his father, who had divorced his mother before she passed.

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Willie Nelson -

Country music icon Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie were raised by their grandparents after both their parents left when they were young.

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Willie Nelson -

Both their grandparents were music teachers and it was they who gave the children their start in music. Nelson's grandfather bought him his first guitar when he was six.

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Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton's mother was just 16 years old when she had him, and the young Eric grew up thinking his grandparents were his parents and his mother his sister. 

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Eric Clapton -

His mother moved to Germany while Clapton was still young and, with his father not around, he was left in the care of his grandparents, who raised him in Surrey.

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Kellie Pickler -

Country singer Kellie Pickler, who rose to fame as a contestant on the fifth season of 'American Idol,' was brought up by her grandparents from the age of 12.

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Kellie Pickler -

The singer has credited her grandparents, Clyde and Faye Pickler, with being the major influences in her life.

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Maya Angelou -

Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou and her brother were sent to live with their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, after her parents divorced when she was three years old.

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Maya Angelou -

Four years later, when Maya was seven years old, her father came to pick up the children and return them to their mother in St Louis, Missouri.

Sources: (Ranker) (The Guardian)

See also: How celebrities spoil their kids

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